


Tell Me A Story

by happyaggro



Category: Halloween Horror Nights - Fandom
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, alcohol mention, everybody loves Toothsome, mention of Chance, non explicit mention of stage gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8473495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaggro/pseuds/happyaggro
Summary: Just because your impact isn't noticed doesn't mean it isn't there.





	

THE YEAR: 2010  
THE PLACE: Universal Studios Florida, Halloween Horror Nights XX, Fear Revealed Scarezone

Alcohol being served at Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando was a common point of contention, with event diehards and casual parkgoers alike complaining about drunken revelers being loud, obnoxious, and inappropriate all around. Hollywood's event sidestepped the issue entirely by not serving booze at all.

Thematically, having female nurses walking around with "blood" bags full of alcoholic jelly shots hanging on an IV stand made sense. What didn't make sense was what one particular nurse was doing that night.

She was right in front of the mini-stage of Elsa Strict, The Storyteller, right after a morbid skit where she took out someone's tongue. The unfortunate guest was actually a scareactor plant that wasn't harmed, but it was still enough to unsettle people.

"You seem lost."

There were many scareactors that portrayed characters at the event, including the Icons. Being part of the event meant you came across the real ones, though how often and for how long varied. The nurse didn't even know if the icons were actually going to be in the icon scarezone. She did know that this particular version of the Storyteller was not your usual woman put into makeup to look several times her own age. She was just plain old. She was still in her black dress, high heels, and her knit shawl.

"I wanted to ask..."

"If it's about my legs, I'll pass."

She found this comment rather sudden, but not surprising. She had some rather unfortunate incidents with park guests making comments about her appearance. Trying it with Elsa just felt like they were tempting fate. If Elsa was experiencing stupid comments throughout the night, the nurse felt obligated to offer something with more substance.

"I...uh...please tell me about...your first visit to Universal. I'd love to hear about it."

Elsa perked up in a way the nurse hadn't thought possible for such a stern and resolute woman.

"You caught me in a rare mood. AND used manners!"

The nurse suddenly felt cold.

"But it's a tale for your ears only. I'll make sure of that."

The surrounding area disappeared, leaving only Elsa's station undisturbed. The nurse was in shock, her Blood Bag IV stand dropping to the ground.

"There we go," Elsa said.

Something about Elsa's voice changed.

[ Let's begin. ]

The nurse still had many questions raised by this sudden change in locales, but decided against it, as not being attentive to one of Elsa's stories would be enough to incur her wrath. She was the one who asked, so she would be sure to see it through.

[ Universal invited me to Halloween Horror Nights in 2002. I was hesitant but had no good reason not to go. Albert was insistent. It was his year! ]

The Port of Entry for Islands of Adventure was transformed into an entryway to the Islands of Fear. Elsa walked through the fog and scareactor filled lane with a briefcase.

[ It was far more impressive than I ever anticipated. ]

Not paying attention to her immediate surroundings, she was startled by a set of legs longer than her own body coming towards her. A dark laugh coming from above her let her know it was Dr. Albert Caine, The Caretaker.

[ To this very day, I still wonder why they gave him stilts to walk with during the event. They haven't in years since. ]

She followed Albert into a backstage area, bustling with people, until they made it into a conference room with several other park employees.

[ Their art and design department said they found out about me when they found one of my stories at, of all places, a local garage sale. ]

One of those employees was holding up a large leather bound book, heavily dented and clawed at. What they were talking to a skeptical Elsa and a surprised Albert about was another matter.

[ That story wasn't what ended up striking their fancies, oddly enough. It was the stories the bookseller told them of ME that had them intrigued. ]

When the park had finally closed to guests later in the night and most employees had gone home, Elsa had stayed. it was only Elsa, two other members of the art and design team, Albert, and his daughter, Cindy. She had a pale pallor, black and white striped dress, and a white headband on, a style that matched well with her father. 

Elsa opened the book and started to read. When the words were spoken out loud, slight tremors rumbled from the ground. The surroundings started to get hazy, as if the park was just a dream and the small group was just waking up.

And then the tremors stopped. The immediate surroundings had changed into the dark kingdom of Terra Cruentas and Elsa had just brought them all a few feet from the Terra Queen's throne.

Albert and Cindy were looking at awe in their surroundings. One of the art and design team members was filming everything, while the other was much more reserved in their reaction than everyone else. It was as if they saw this coming.

[ With a showing like that, of course they wanted me for next year. I brought them back to where they were before then everyone went home. ]

The nurse finally spoke up. "Y-you were the icon for that year but you barely showed up at the event!"

"When you're in the middle of a good story, you're hardly thinking about who is telling it to you."

They were back at the scarezone, everything continuing as normal.

"It just feels like you deserve more credit than you get."

Elsa smiled. "Dearie, you're far too kind. I assure you that I'm getting all of the credit I need. I'm just as important in all of this as everyone else."

Elsa handed over the IV stand with all of the blood booze containers intact.

"I've held you up long enough. As much as I dislike these libations, you still have your role to play too."

The nurse gave a polite nod and thanked her as she went back into the fray, still in a slight haze from what she experienced.

THE YEAR: 2016  
THE PLACE: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA, HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS, TOOTHSOME CHOCOLATE EMPORIUM & SAVORY FEATS KITCHEN

The person who had lead Elsa to the private booth had learned something new about Universal's shiniest new dining establishment, mainly that they HAD private booths. Elsa entered the booth with tinted glass windows and gear shaped lattice work to find Eddie and Cindy. Eddie was in casual clothing, blue jeans with a black shirt and a green military style jacket with the arms ripped off. Elsa noted that the legs of his jeans weren't actually ripped for once. Cindy's outfit was a black dress with a grey collar, a darker grey shirt, and a necklace. Her pallor was still pale, her headband was absent, and she was a lot more peppier.

The larger man had went with a banana cream pie sundae with an apple pie crepe on the side and Chocolate x5 milkshake. There was a Classic Margherita flatbread intended for the whole table, already on its way to being finished, excluding the portion purposefully left for Elsa. She had already left her order with the man that brought her up to the booth, since the booths were way out of the way from the general public. Cindy was ecstatically sipping a Red Velvet Milkshake, though she got a lot less noisy about it when Elsa entered the room. Elsa noted that even though Eddie had been eating, the disguise makeup that he used to cover up his facial scarring was still intact.

"Chance is doing an excellent job," Elsa remarked.

"As if there was any doubt?"

Eddie certainly was proud of her. As someone more accustomed to the metal half mask Eddie usually wore over his face, Elsa was still taken aback whenever he was actually smiling with teeth. So much like his brother Jack's, though as was tradition with sub-Icons, Eddie's teeth were a sight better looking than his brother's.

"Maybe you'll get your chance too, huh, Eddie?" Cindy quipped.

"I'd better."

"My sentiments exactly~" 

Cindy got back to her milkshake while Eddie handed Elsa printouts.

Elsa looked over each one intently. "Do you suspect that Nemusus has a mole in Legendary Truth?"

"They could just be very good hackers, but I doubt it. We all know there's dissent in the ranks and the upper echelon stinks to high heaven."

"All of this over the Repository..."

Elsa took off her glasses and pinched the ridge of her nose.

"And you say that they're using the Dark Portals as part of the storyline this year?"

"On the bright side, they came up with a better name than the Elsa Gates for public consumption."

"Oh my, I do approve of that choice."

Dark forces had always been in effect at the Horror Nights event in Orlando, but the introduction of the Icons and the blurry line between fiction and reality during the event brought forth an unexpected side effect. Dimensional shifts were frequent and parkgoers were often lost in the horrifying worlds the event brought to life. 

Instead of fixing this, Universal hoped to harness it, hence the creation of the Elsa Gates through research and experimentation based on the methods that Elsa used to bring forth the world of Terra Cruentas. This lead to increasingly more popular Horror Nights events, but it had unexpected positive benefits as well. When Professor Doctor Penelope Tibeaux-Tinker Toothsome waltzed through one of the Elsa Gates unexpectedly with a business proposition, how could Universal say no?

"An actual good thing came out of a gate, whodathunk it?" Eddie remarked.

Elsa didn't share Eddie's enthusiasm. "The immersion of the restaurant in a storyline is miles above most of the park and the Repository is too eager in tying secret elements into the theming that have been hush hush for years. Isn't this too sudden and too much?"

Cindy suddenly piped up. "You're thinking these people are smart enough to figure out what's going on?"

Elsa was quiet. She steepled her hands and was deep in thought. A slight glare came off of her glasses.

"Even if they have a 2, s'not like they have another 2 to put it together with."

Elsa gave a curt nod. The glare was off of her glasses. Cindy had a point, but she'd have to keep an eye on things, if only to ease her mind about it.

The waiter came back with Elsa's order, a Salted Dulce de Leche milkshake. She thanked the waiter and held up her glass.

"All questionable presentation decisions aside, I think we can chalk this year up as a success. If someone like Chance can make it as an icon after toiling in second fiddle sub-Icon obscurity, then truly anything is possible."

Cindy raised her glass. "To the rest of us!!"

The trio's raised glasses clinked with a hearty cheer of "TO THE REST OF US!!"


End file.
